The Taylor Force Act and two other anti-terror measures passed the influential House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday.
All three measures will move to the full chamber, where they will be voted on by all members of the House, The Times of Israel reported.
The Taylor Force Act is named for the United States army veteran who was stabbed to death in March 2016 by a Palestinian terrorist while visiting Israel. The terrorist who killed Force was later killed, but he was described as “heroic” by Fatah, the main Palestinian political faction, and his family receives a stipend from the Palestinian Authority (PA). The Taylor Force Act, which passed unanimously on Wednesday, would condition U.S. aid to the Palestinians on the PA’s ending the practice of paying stipends to terrorists and their families.
A study published this past summer estimated that payments to terrorists and their families amounted to roughly half of the foreign budgetary aid the PA receives from the U.S., EU and Israel each year.
The Congressional version of the Taylor Force Act exempts three payments from a potential cutoff: money for childhood vaccinations, water, and for PA hospitals.
“Since 2003, it has been Palestinian law to reward Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails with a monthly paycheck. Palestinian leadership also pays the families of Palestinian prisoners and suicide bombers. These policies incentivize terrorism,” Rep. Ed Royce (R – Calif.), chairman of the committee said. “With this legislation, we are forcing the PA to choose between U.S. assistance and these morally reprehensible policies, and I am pleased to see this measure move forward in both chambers with so much support.”
Passage of the Taylor Force Act by the committee follows support for the legislation expressed by Michal Salomon, whose husband, father-in-law, and sister-in-law were murdered by a terrorist in July. Salomon, earlier this week, “expressed dismay” to Jason Greenblatt, the Trump administration’s Middle East peace envoy, “that the [family of the] terrorist would be receiving compensation from the Palestinian Authority for his action.”
The other anti-terror measures that passed in the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday were the Palestinian International Terrorism Support Prevention Act and the Hamas Human Shields Prevention Act.
The Hamas Human Shield Prevention Act would target Hamas, and its sponsor, Iran, for the practice of putting armaments in residential areas and forcing Gaza residents to relocate into buildings that Israel was targeting, by sanctioning nations, entities, and individuals that support Hamas. Three years ago, Hamas admitted to the practice, which violates international law, and called on Gazans to act as human shields during Operation Protective Edge.
The Palestinian International Terrorism Support Prevention Act would impose sanctions on nations that provide material support to Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups.
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